Misery Loves Company
by DeliriumCanidae
Summary: When Danny is killed, can anyone help bring Phantom's sanity back? Just a twoshot...
1. Chapter 1

The dim light from the sunset shined down on the park in Amity Park.A white haired teenage boy sat on a tree branch, one knee folded up to his chest, with the other hanging down, while he had one arm resting across his knee, and the other held the branch for support. Pupilless, bright, glowing, green eyes stared absently at nothing in particular, giving him a rather dazed look. His expression was neutral not giving away what he felt; his depression more importantly. He sat stock still, giving any passersby the impression that he was a life-like statue. That is, until he moved. It wasn't much. Just a sigh. Even the sigh that whispered from his lips was impossible to read; boredom, anger, sadness, happiness, depression... who knew but only the boy on the tree branch.

Phantom had been sitting like this for, oh, how long was it? Probably at least three hours. Sighing again, he ran a white gloved hand through his hair, while saying "Three months, two weeks, and six days." His hand fell back to the branch. That is, until he heard a very familiar female voice say "There you are, Ghost Boy."

A smirk that didn't meet his eyes, crossed his face as he turned to the ghost hunter behind him. Her jetsled was even with the branch, so that he had to look up. "Valerie." He greeted mildly, before saying "And I'm not a "Ghost Boy" as you so fondly call me." Then he stood up on the branch so he was slightly taller than her, and finishing with "The human part of me was killed, curtisy of a lovely old guy named Skulker, three months, two weeks, and six days ago."

Valerie stared for a moment at a lost of words. He had never mentioned this before, in all of the conversations they'd had. Yes, conversations. The war between the two had ended when Phantom stopped fighting back.It hadn't been a very stupendous way to stop either. She had appeared when he was sitting on a hill in the park, about twenty yards away from this very tree they were at now, he had turned towards her, hung his head, and put his hands up in surrender. So, the war had stopped. Granted, whenever she was around him, she was still in her ghost hunter mode so that she would be prepared if he tried anything. He hadn't tried anything in the two months that they had been at peace, but she wasn't taking chances. She did trust him enough to not wear her mask though.

"What do you mean, your human half died?" She finally asked.

"You can't tell me you never noticed the similarities between Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom." He responded, giving her a dead pan stare.

Valerie's eyes widened in disbelief.

"You're Danny Fenton, too!"

"Was. He died. And yes, you spent, how long was it? hunting your best friend. Ain't that great?"

Valerie stared for a minute, watching Phantom. He stared back at her with a sort of child like curiousity. He had slowly been changing, mentally. She wasn't sure why, and she didn't have plans to ask. But, plans can change.

Phantom made to sit back down, but missed the branch, landing on his back on the ground. He blinked a few times, before he burst out laughing. Valerie stared at him for a moment, before it dawned on her.

"You're not healthy, are you?" She asked.

When he finally calmed down, he replied "Well, duh. You're just now noticing? I'm dead. Most people don't consider that healthy."

"That's not what I mean, moron. I mean, mentally. You're slipping."

Phantom snorted. "Slipping? More like plummeting. I'm hanging by my last threads of sanity, and Pariah knows they ain't gonna last long."

Briefly, in the back of her mind, Valerie noticed that he used 'Pariah' where a normal person would use 'God' or 'Lord'.

And it was true. Slowly, actually, not so slowly, but surely, Phantom was going mad. And he explained this in a conversational, almost cheerful tone.

For most people, going insane was bareable, because they didn't know they had gone insane until they were in the nice, white, padded room. For Phantom, it was hardly tolerable. Because he knew he was going crazy, and he knew there was nothing he could do about it.

Valerie landed when she noticed that Phantom hadn't stood back up yet.

"Getting up anytime soon?"

"There a point to it?"

"Not really..."

"Well then, no thanks. I'll just stay here 'til Sam comes looking for me and drags me to my feet again. She always does."

"Why does Sam have to come looking for you?"

"She's my, as she so nicely puts it, keeper. She makes sure I don't kill anyone, destroy anything, send myself into oblivion, or have any fun."

"...Oblivion?"

"Uh, ghost death, is the easiest way to explain it. It's when a ghost's spirit is shredded."

"Oh..."

"You almost did that to me a few times." He added, propping himself up onto his elbows.

With an annoyed sigh, Valerie grabbed his upper arm and tugged him up. She tugged harder than was needed, causing herself to fall over, and him to topple onto her. He stared at her for a moment, before a blush spread across his face. She didn't have enough time to ask what was wrong, however, because his lips were over hers as he kissed her roughly.

Valerie, partially stunned, didn't realize she was shoving him off until she had already done it. She sat up and watched Phantom quickly get to his feet.

He staggered back two steps. "I-I'm sorry." He stuttered. Before she could reply he had turned and flown away.

Once he was out of sight, Valerie brought a hand up to tentatively touch her lips, as thoughts of confusion, embarrassment, and even, love, passed through her mind.


	2. Chapter 2

"If I was a mentally unstable ghost, where would I go?" Valerie asked herself, after twenty minutes of looking for Phantom. She was on her jetsled about twenty yards above the center of the town. Then, it hit her. She knew where Phantom was. She then flew quickly to the Fenton's house. Or, at least what was once the Fenton's house. When Danny had died, the Fenton's had moved shortly after.

Valerie's jetsled vanished back into the bottom of her boots when she landed in front of the house. The large "Fenton Works" sign was gone, as was anything that had once dealt with ghosts. She opened the door and walked inside, coughing and waving a hand in front of her face when a cloud of dust rose. There was at least an inch of dust covering the now bare floor. She walked to the staircase and started up the stairs.

Once she reached the top of the staircase, she was sent into yet another coughing fit as another cloud of dust rose. When it cleared, she turned down the hallway to the second door on the left side. It was open a crack, a thin stream of light coming out. Valerie opened the door and walked in. "I thought I'd find you here." She said softly, seeing Phantom. She was somewhat surprise to notice that Danny's old room was completely untouched. It still had all of the pictures and furniture.

"Go away." He replied petulantly, from his place by the window.

"Why?"

"You made it exceedingly obvious you don't want my company."

Valerie sighed. "Phantom, I didn't do it on purpose. It was just…the kiss was sudden, and my body reacted without being told…"

Phantom cautiously, almost shyly looked at her.

"So, you don't hate me?"

"No."

"Do you like me?"

Valerie walked over to him so she was standing in front of him. "Will this answer your questions?" She asked, then leaned in and kissed him. There was a brief moment, then Valerie gasped when Phantom pulled her closer, almost desperately, deepening the kiss. But, that kiss did something. Those few strands of sanity that Phantom said he was hanging by, strengthened. Not enough to pull him back up from where he'd fallen, but enough to keep him from falling farther.

They separated when oxygen became necessary, or at least necessary to Valerie, since Phantom was a ghost.

"Yeah, that answers my questions" Phantom said after a moment.

Valerie smiled softly.

"Can we get out of here?" She asked after a moment. "It creeps me out. It's like a haunted house."

"I wish." Phantom murmured, stretching his arms above his head. "Am I flying, or are we both flying?"

"Both." Valerie said. Phantom nodded, then a sly look came to his face, and he made her go intangible, and shoved her through the wall to the outside. He heard her scream, then heard her jetsled. He giggled in a most undignified manner, then went through the wall to hover in front of her.

"Be glad you're cute. Or else, you would be dead." Valerie said, glaring at him.

Phantom laughed. "You mean kinda like a puppy or a kitten?"

Valerie smiled softly again. "Yes, like a puppy or a kitten. Now lets go, before someone sees us." She said, then flew off, Phantom at her side.

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Though Phantom lost one relationship, and he lost most of his sanity, he also gained something. A stronger relationship, with the least expected person possible.


End file.
